Damp but delightful

My first trillium capture of the season

Fifteen Senior Trailblazers were led by Melanie on our lovely Thursday hike on Blanchard Mountain. This is one of our go-to areas for our wintertime excursions. It wasn't raining when we started driving to the Upper Trailhead on Blanchard, but it began to sprinkle as we geared up. I was pleased to see so many trillium today, but they all were a tad waterlogged.

Which way?

We went up to Lily Lake first, although we just skirted it on our way up to North Butte overlook. It didn't make a lot of sense to me to attempt the Butte, since there would definitely not be a view, but we went to the base of it anyway. Melanie was determined to get in as many miles today as possible.

Lily Lake

You can see the raindrops in the lake, and the lack of any sunshine. However, there were a couple of times during the day when the light rain lessened and we even cast a bit of a shadow now and then.

The "view" from the Butte

Melanie took this picture of the trees in the mist at North Butte, and this showed that there was no reason for me to climb up onto the wet rocks. However, a few of our number did, and they said they could see a bit of a view of the islands in the bay. I took their word for it.

Swamp lanterns (skunk cabbage)

These yellow flowers are everywhere in the swampy areas around the lakes. Peggy calls them "swamp lanterns," a name I like better than the more well-known one, "skunk cabbage." They do have a definite odor, but I don't think it's as pungent or skunky enough to earn that name. They are pretty at this stage.

Lizard Lake

Then we got to Lizard Lake, where we stopped for lunch. Although it's not all that recent, you can see beaver signs with that fallen tree. The stumps sticking out in the middle of the lake looked to me a little like aliens peeking out.

Fog and mist

I saw the fog coming in quickly as we walked back from our lunch spot. Since I was bundled up with everything I had to try to stay warm after stopping, it took awhile for me to take this on the fly, but I think it turned out fine anyway. I love the way trees look enshrouded in mist.

Waterfall

And finally, a pretty waterfall at a bridge just before we reached the cars on our return journey. It was still sprinkling a little, but it never opened up and really began to rain until we were driving home. We were happy to have been out, and the Trailblazers know how to deal with a little rain. We have been so dry that it was almost pleasant to have some wet weather for a change. We traveled nine miles and nearly 2,000 feet up and down. A fine day indeed!
:-)